Palmeri questions Castle ethics, conflict-of-interest

[The following letter was sent to Karl Ebert at the Oshkosh Northwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 by Tony Palmeri. Tony has shared it with Eye on Oshkosh and we post it here for your thoughts and comments.]

Hi Karl,

Not sure if you saw the Oshkosh Common Council meeting on Tuesday, but I thought Bill Castle's Council Member statement was shocking. He openly beamed about his close personal friendship with Phil Martini, to the point of talking about their golf outings. If their friendship is as close as
Bill says it is, and we have no reason to believe it is not, how on earth is Castle able to vote on anything affecting CR Meyer?

I'm thinking especially about the no-bid contract but, after Castle's comments, it
strikes me that he should not be voting on anything related to the amphitheater project.

I realize that the Northwestern editorial board and I disagree over the merits of the amphitheater, but I do hope the board has a candid discussion about whether or not to editorialize in favor of Castle recusing
himself from any further votes that could affect CR Meyer.

My guess is that the State Ethics Board would say that there is nothing technically illegal about Castle voting on projects that benefit his golf buddy. Still, it certainly has the appearance of impropriety and I for one think it would be very appropriate for the Northwestern to editorialize in favor of recusal.

Happy New Year

--Tony

P.S. I am forwarding this email to Paul Esslinger and Cheryl Hentz because
over the years they have shared my interest in conflict of interest issues.

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